Cill Dara Shinn Féin Poblachtach

Republican
Sinn Fein in Wicklow wishes to highlight an issue which has been
brought to our attention in recent weeks. Residents and visitors of
Wicklow town have approached us at their wits end with the
unsatisfactory situation at hand.The
quays and piers in the town are very popular among tourists and locals
alike. Walkers, sailors, fishing enthusiasts and people who just come to
take in the areas
natural beauty are among the many people who frequent the area daily.
However this popular area is being tarnished and polluted at the hands
of inept local authorities.
The port for a considerable time now has been exporting "refuse derived
fuel" to Germany. At one stage 1,800 tonnes of this waste were being
stored in the port. Foul smells from the quay have been reported by many
people in the area. Local councillors last January claimed "these
smells have been eliminated". However this is a total fallacy. People
frequenting the area are often been forced to leave with the foul smell.
Wicklow County Council have "passed the buck" so to speak, to the EPA in
regard to the policing of the waste that is stored in the port. They
have been tasked with "minimising the odour in the port". Clearly they
are not fulfilling their brief in this regard and they are causing
serious damage not just environmentally but also economically to the
area. Tourists and visitors are not staying around and in turn they are
not spending their money in the town.
Ironically, just a few miles outside the town a landfill which accepts
150,000 tonnes of waste each year, is in operation for the last number
of years. Also causing serious odour problems. We of Republican Sinn
Fein in Wicklow ask the question "is it fitting to call Wicklow the
garden of Ireland anymore?". A county which boasts amazing natural
beauty is been let down badly by those who claim they are there to
protect it.